Tennessee players reflect on roller coaster season

Tennessee is playing its best baseball at the perfect time. After an up-and-down regular season, the Volunteers have rallied to give consistent terrific performances throughout the postseason. The result: a College World Series berth, which the dominant 2022 team failed to achieve. So, is this run just a hot streak from this roller coaster Tennessee club, or have this year’s Vols finally turned the corner to becoming steady performers at a high level.

Volunteer sophomore Jared Dickey thinks it’s the latter. This is no fluke run. Instead, the fellas in orange are just playing some good baseball in the months that matter.

“I wouldn’t really call it a hot streak. I would just kind of say we’re playing good baseball right now,” Dickey declared ahead of the CWS. He says Tennessee is fully capable of playing as well as anyone and they just needed some time to mesh with one another to bring out this level of play.

“That’s what this team is capable of. Like I said, finally coming together as a team, it’s allowed us to be comfortable with each other on and off the field, and it’s allowed us to just mesh together and know that we’ve got each other’s backs no matter where we’re at.

Senior pitcher Camden Sewell echoed very similar sentiments, saying that “the main thing for us was still being together as a group and getting the opportunity to come together every day to the field, whatever it may be, travel. Be together and spend more time together, and we’re excited to keep it rolling.”

Head coach Tony Vitello will be the first to tell you that these guys had to overcome quite a few obstacles this season to eventually come together for this great run. “Just for our program’s sake, our fans’ sake, the construction with the stadium, how many kinds of different little adversity stories I could tell you about this year, there’s been a lot wrapped into one,” he said of the season. Perhaps that’s been to their benefit, though.

“It’s a big old Chipotle burrito of stuff that’s gone on this year. Maybe it’s helped us in the long run because I don’t feel like we’ve reached our full potential,” Vitello added. “Now, if that’s the case, you better find in a hurry because there’s only so many days left, even for the national champion.“